1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to hospital emergency room and operating room equipment and particularly to the cleanliness and organization of such equipment at the patient's bedside. Most particularly, this invention relates to the placement and control of monitor cables associated with such equipment.
2. Background
Like all fields of medicine, the fields of Anesthesia and Intensive Care have aggressively adopted new technology. Modern operating rooms and emergency rooms are equipped with a wide variety of devices for diagnosing and treating life-threatening conditions and for monitoring a patients physiological status. As might be expected, the introduction of so many pieces of equipment into the operating field has created problems of its own. One such problem arises from the many cables, lines and tubes connecting the equipment to the patient. The cables complicate the movement of equipment, interfere with access to the patient and contaminate the operating field.
Cables that are too short limit the position of equipment and interfere with access to the patient. Cables that are too long drag bodily fluids and contaminants back and forth between the patient and nearby surfaces. Tangled cables cause confusion during an emergency. Snagged cables may cause personnel to drop objects, possibly injuring themselves or the patient. Cables dragging on the floor may be tripped over, pulled out or crushed beneath rolling carts. In an emergency, as more cables are attached and more specialists crowd around the patient, the likelihood of a mishap increases dramatically. The simple measure of keeping cables well organized and out of the way would help to avoid accidents, reduce confusion and maintain aseptic conditions around the patient.
Additionally, when a patient is moved or a monitor replaced, the cables must be disconnected from the patient, the monitor or both. It is often preferable to keep the cables attached to the patient, sometimes connecting the cables to a portable monitor which travels with the patient. Delay and annoyance should be avoided. It would therefore be most advantageous to keep the cables well organized while swapping monitors or moving the patient.
What is needed is a simple device for fixing and adjusting the length of a monitor cable so that the cable is less likely to tangle or drag. What is also needed is such a device for keeping excess lengths of cable in a clean place out of the way of personnel and equipment. What is especially needed is such a device which performs these functions even as cables are being disconnected and reconnected.